A proud parent of an Emerson sophomore, David described to the audience the start of his comedic career.

Jeff Schoenherr, vice president of the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, presents Larry David, P '16, with an "Emerson Dad" T-shirt as moderator Michael Kay, an announcer for the New York Yankees, looks on. (Photo by Michelle Kwong '15)

“After college, I took an acting class. I didn’t like the acting part of it but I noticed they would start laughing when I would just talk as myself. So I thought, ‘Gee, alright, maybe I’ll try that,’” said David.

He met his future Seinfeld co-creator and friend, Jerry Seinfeld, at the comedy club Catch a Rising Star.

“We got along right away,” said David.

The two comedians would hang out, write together, and add jokes to each other’s material. Seinfeld eventually approached David about NBC’s interest in doing a show.

With David, inspiration can strike anywhere, even at a grocery store.

“We went to a grocery store and started talking about products in the store. And I said, ‘This is the show. This is what the show should be,’” said David. “We had a particular way of talking that other people didn’t have and I’d never heard dialogue like that on television.”

“The idea of the show is about how a comedian gets his material. I’m very surprised at the success of the show, especially because I participated in it,” David quipped.

Kay told the audience David plays a more abstract version of himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm and it is also based on the character of George Costanza in Seinfeld.

“Except I’m much handsomer,” David said.

When asked which character best reflects his personality, David replied: “I love Larry David from Curb. I love him because he says everything that I’m thinking and gets away with it. He’s a bit of a sociopath. I aspire to be that Larry David. If I had one wish in life, I want to be Larry David.”

“A Conversation with Larry David” was followed by a question and answer session with students.